Ask Alex Anything! (If you are new to the forum and can't find an answer ask here!)

[mac1]

I'm dropping a KLG4 or KLDE in my Escort wagon and I want to run E85. I have millenia 305cc injectors and stock KL01 ECU and KL02 MAF. Would this be rich enough for E85? Has anyone ran E85 here with a stock ECU?

Soo many people want to try it but noone wants to do their own experimenting, Just try it and find out but leave the MAF out of it.

---------- Post added at 12:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:17 AM ----------

So can i put custom, bigger headers on a manual PGT 1992 2.2turbo?

Not to sound rude but go post this in the 1st gen section, I've never touched an engine part on any 1st gen in my life.

[mac1]

So i am looking at some ebay headers, and my brother said last time he did headers on a probe it was hard because of the EGR line on it. I thought i read somewhere that there is a delete for the EGR? I'm not sure but it would make things easier to install if there was a delete for the EGR, so question is is there? does it hurt my vehicle? How do you if you can?

Thanks!

FYI, you will gain like 2hp from ebay headers and have possible emission problems, but i will sound good. As far as the EGR, would it make sense to you if I said welding things shut gets rid of functionality? Hooking up the tube but not mounting the valve to the motor and removing the vacuum line will work until the welds break at the header from the weight of the valve. This is ofcourse since you mentioned the tube will not align.

---------- Post added at 12:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 AM ----------

I was just doing some research on this today and found that meth/water injection increases octane up to 116! It seems to be safer. From what this tunner was saying he has seen more problems(det/engine failure) with boosted stock internal engines on 93pump @ only 8-10psi. Compared to meth @ 15-18psi! Apparently 93octane isnt always 93 octane.
LINKS REMOVED DUE TO RULES

Do you know of any Con's of using meth? I was thinking about E85 but I heard that stuff gunks up your fuel sys. and need to run nylon or ss fuel lines.

Why would their be cons to running meth? If you spray too much then you hydrolock, but that's not a con as much as it is a F'up.

[mx-3_4evr]

Soo many people want to try it but noone wants to do their own experimenting, Just try it and find out but leave the MAF out of it.

What do you mean by "leaving the MAF out"? I will try it no matter what people say.

[mac1]

You cant just throw a Maf in the equation, MAF works the ECU it came with and will likely be obd2 so you need the harness as well.

[michael0008]

don't worry found it

[EloM]

I've had a transmission problem since I bought my car 7.5 years ago, it's the synchro's from 1st to 2nd. & sometimes into 3rd. Is it easier to just get a new/used mtx? Also, with the little searching I did, I saw that 93-95 PGT's had the 4.11 ratio? But it seems I don't have it. So, what would be the best thing for me to do to get it to the 4.11?
I saw a local guy selling a 93 PGT mtx with 180k Km's & he said that I can use the 5th gear out of an SE to drop the rpms? Any truth to that? Or would it be best to get an Escort mtx?

[mac1]

He's right, I have that same gear sitting in a box waiting for transplant. If the trans has a vin number that starts with 1z then it' a Probe trans with the 4.11, other wise it's a mx6 or mx3.

[EloM]

Next question, I've seen this happen twice & though I may have a clue, it still scrares me.
I recently saw for the 2nd time my car blow out the back a lot of blue smoke! Both times were on the highway & the last time was when I down shifted cuz I slowed down due to traffic. It was a big puff, but after that, it didn't puff anymore. Yes, my car makes oil disappear. I have a ZE, with about 110,000Km's on it. I haven't driven it hard (like I should). I had a vision though when it happened last, is it possible that since I don't have an egr & I'm on the highway, a back up of unburnt oil/gas is what I'm seeing? I like the car, don't want to get rid of it, any ideas on what I should do? I was thinking comp. test? Could it be the rings or do the valve retainers have anything to do with this? I heard & read many times that on a ZE you should replace the retainers after 100k?

[ZE runner]

You may have bad rings. You can always get a compression test. valve retainers wouldnt have anything to do with this although i would replace them. and since you need to do that might as well do the valve seals and stop your car from burning oil.
Rule of thumb if you see smoke when you start your car its the valve seals, and if you see smoke @ WOT then its prolly the rings.
edit: 1 idea (when its warm out) is to try a thicker oil such as 15w-50 or 20w-50. It can help w/ compression on older engines. So if you use this oil and you dont see smoke anymore, youve narrowed down your problem.


The reason you dont see smoke any more after running your car w/ bad valve seals is that it is getting burned off quickly at a very small amount. But if youve noticed a car down the highway w/ constant blue exhuast like an old 85 corolla, most likely those valve seals arent just leaking they're blown, letting in large amounts of oil into the cyls. + w/ 275,000 mls the rings are problably worn w/ gouged cyliders to help out lol.

[ZE runner]

Alex, what type of oil do you use with your boosted setup? im thinkin of using 10w-40 for the winter and 15w-50 for the summer.
edit: i tried searching and cant seem to find much on this site. I think the search is kinda funky here.
Found on MX6.com that turbos like thicker oil, but HLAs like lighter oil so a good balance is either 10w30 or 10w40.

[EloM]

I did some checking & while it's smoking from it being cold out, it's not blue. It doesn't smoke @ wot either. As mentioned, it seems to have only done this twice when I downshift from 5th to 4th & for 1 second when I step on the pedal to accelerate, blue comes out, then stops (& when I accelerate, I don't kill it). I even checked my oil, it wasn't lower, so this makes even less sense now! Also, for clairification, I'm Canadian, I said the engine has about 110,000Km's, not miles. I thought the retainers should be done @ 100k mi?
I tried using Restore on the current oil change, no difference noted.

[ZE runner]

Ah yes, the cold. I forgot its still freezing up there. im in shorts and a tshirt 2day down here. well these cars are known to run pig rich @ WOT, also so its posible that its just rich @ higher rpms causing the blueish smoke. DOes your exhuast smell rich w/ gas?

I would still do a compression test though. Bc this is also the symptom of a piston w/ bad rings or a gouged cyl. Not a major gouge but small enough to let some oil leak through and burn out the exhaust. Only a very small amount w/ give you blue exhaust... like 3-4 eye drops. You wont notice that on your dipstick. IMO if its not doing it all of the time I wouldnt sweat it. Jut check your oil next time and make sure you dont see any major particles in there.
FYI I have my EGR blocked off and mine doesnt smoke.

---------- Post added at 10:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:14 PM ----------

Ok ive got a question for anyone who knows. I may have a faulty wiring harness in my car. Is the auto and 5spd the same harness? I talked w/ a honda guy and he said that it shouldnt matter and that the auto worked on his 5spd. I went to the junkyards in charlotte and columbia but all they had were autos. Any response would be appreciated.

[conversion]

why no spark

why wont my curved neck klze spark? changed the disty to my old de one as well as cps, checked intera switch,fues and grounds as well as i could,......? it turns over and getting fuel but no spark, btw its a 94 pgt 2.5l

[dueces]

check your crankshaft position sensor, maybe even the camshaft pos sensor, and did you change the spark plugs and wires?

[mac1]

Pull some codes.